The US and India have launched a new task force under the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP), which will focus on the accelerated deployment of energy storage technologies.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) and India’s Ministry of Power (MoP) launched the Energy Storage Task Force to facilitate ongoing and meaningful dialogue among government officials, industry representatives, and other stakeholders from both countries to help scale up and accelerate deployment of energy storage technologies to facilitate clean energy transition.
The US-India SECP joint statement, issued on Friday, underscores the importance of bilateral clean energy engagement to strengthen energy security and to accelerate clean, secure, and just energy transition.
Joint statement
The joint statement was issued after the ministerial meeting of the SCEP by the US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas H S Puri in Washington.
“Amidst volatility in global energy markets, continuing recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, and increasingly frequent climate-related challenges, the US and India reiterated their commitment to accelerating a just and sustainable energy transition,” Ministry of Petroleum & natural Gas (MoPNG) said in a statement.
As the second and third largest energy consumers, US and India are working steadfastly together towards rapid deployment of green technologies, Puri tweeted on Friday.
Energy storage
As part of SCEP’s Emerging Fuels & Technologies pillar, both countries are working on accelerating transport electrification and decarbonisation, particularly for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, by increasing efficiencies and reducing emissions of freight transport, advancing deployment of long-haul trucks powered by batteries and fuel cells.
It also aims to increase EV charging infrastructure, and collaborate with private industry to accelerate the deployment of cleaner vehicles, and development of battery supply chains.
Feasibility study
The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is funding a feasibility study for a private energy developer in India, to evaluate the technical and economic viability of developing a hybrid solar (100 MW) and wind power plant (200 MW) with integrated battery energy storage (100 MWh) at Dwarka in Gujarat.
The feasibility study is on the verge of conclusion and covers in-depth technical assessments and conceptual design, economic and financial analysis, legal and regulatory analysis, and an implementation plan.
This project was one of two highlighted by US President Joe Biden at the launch of the I2U2 Partnership between the US, UAE, Israel, and India in July 2022.
Last month, the US Department of Energy (DoE) in partnership with the Foreign Commercial Office organised a technical session on the potential for US-India collaborations in the long-duration battery storage.
The session organised during the Renewable Energy India (REI) Expo 2022 in Greater Noida registered views from DOE, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Indian Energy Storage Alliance and US industry players including EOS Energy Enterprises and Invinity Energy Systems.
The session provided a platform to initiate discussions between stakeholders on both sides to explore, evaluate and identify partnership opportunities. Several technical webinars are being planned on the subject to help make these partnership opportunities concrete.